Posted
by
Soulskillon Saturday May 29, 2010 @09:27AM
from the ceding-the-moon-to-skynet dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The Japanese space agency, JAXA, has plans to build a base on the Moon by 2020. Not for humans, but for robots — and built by robots, too. A panel authorized by Japan's prime minister has drawn up preliminary plans for how humanoid and rover robots will begin surveying the moon by 2015, and then begin construction of a base near the south pole of the moon. The robots and the base will run on solar power, with total costs about $2.2 billion USD, according to the panel chaired by Waseda University President Katsuhiko Shirai. 'As currently envisioned, the robots that will land on the lunar surface in 2015 will be 660-pound behemoths equipped with rolling tank-like treads, solar panels, seismographs, high-def cameras, and a smattering of scientific instruments. They'll also have human-like arms for collecting rock samples that will be returned to Earth via rocket.'"

So these robots are already planning to build a moon base that discriminates against humans? I wonder if that's because they'll be doing secret robot research there into the preliminary SkyNET satellite network? The moon is in the sky, and SkyNET is in the sky... coincidence? I think not.